Midwest oil refineries are planning a heavy load of maintenance this autumn that could keep fuel supplies in the heartland tight through the rest of the year, according to a Reuters survey released Thursday.

Other regions of the United States, however, could see a lighter-then-normal fall maintenance season after many plants completed their overhauls earlier in the year — taking some of the pressure off thin fuel stocks in the world’s biggest energy consumer.

U.S. gasoline supplies are running about 8 percent below last year’s levels due to the persistent refinery outages, with Midwest stocks 9 percent below a year ago, according to the most recent government data.

Experts said the focus of refinery maintenance in the Midwest region comes after plants in the area kept running to take advantage of sterling profit margins while other refineries continued a prolonged recovery from coastal hurricanes in 2005.

“The Midwest has hung on for so long after Katrina that there is a lot there that never went down,” said Mark Routt, an analyst with consultancy group ESAI in Massachusetts.

September is expected to be the heaviest month for Midwest refinery maintenance, with 351,000 barrels per day of the region’s 8.27 million bpd of crude distillation capacity scheduled to shut.

Supplies of gasoline and diesel in the northern tier of the Magellan Pipeline, which runs from Houston to Minnesota are expected to be extremely constrained as two of top refineries are seen going out concurrently.

Perfect.

From The Toledo Blade:

One of the metro Toledo’s two refineries is to be shut down for routine maintenance lasting about two months, starting in about three weeks, people familiar with the operation who asked not to be named said yesterday.

BP PLC is to close its suburban Toledo operation in mid-September, eliminating production of 155,000 barrels a day of regular gasoline and diesel, as well as kerosene, aviation fuel, and some other products, the people said. It supplies BP stations and others selling under different brand names.

The plant generally supplies Ohio and provides products for Detroit. Although BP officials declined to discuss the temporary closure, the planned shutdown likely means the company will buy gasoline supplies to serve the state.

It is unclear whether the work will have any affect on area vehicle fuel supplies or on gas pump prices.

Such maintenance overhaul typically takes place about every four years and often takes about eight weeks to finish.

Jeff Hazle, technical director for the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, said he did not know specifically what BP might be doing but said such work typically involves inspecting pipes and vessels, replacing equipment, and possibly adding technology to improve performance.

The name of the site is based off an essay Ed wrote for the Grand Rapids Press titled "The Gas Game". The current website was established later by Patrick DeHaan after he and Ed predicted gas price hikes on GasBuddy's website GrandRapidsGasPrices.com, as well as Ed’s personal web page.

Note: To be precise, add 9/10 of a cent to all prices described on this web page.